An initial comment period has begun for the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to purchase a 647-acre private inholding within Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

The scoping comment period ends Jan. 17 and can be submitted online at https://go.usa.gov/xeHen. Plan documents are available at the website.

The BLM is preparing an environmental assessment to analyze the proposed action and options.

The property in Yellow Jacket Canyon is being acquired from willing seller Mary Austin. A price has not been made public.

According to the Montezuma County Assessor’s Office, the 163-acre lot sold for $48,600 in 1996, and the 484-acre parcel sold for $153,000 in 1998.

Funding for the BLM to purchase the land has been approved by Congress via the Land & Water Conservation Fund Program, according to Connie Clementson, field manager of the BLM Tres Rios District.

The proposed purchase is in conflict with the Montezuma County Board of County Commission stance against losing private land to federal agencies without an equal allocation of private lands.

The county resolution is a position statement and is not legally binding.

The majority of the county is federal, land and county officials are concerned about losing its tax base.

Montezuma County is made up 27% private land, 40% federal land mostly controlled by the U.S. Forest Service and BLM, and 34% is the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe reservation.

The proposed land purchase within the monument would not involve any mineral estate because it is held by the federal government. No water rights are proposed to be acquired. There are no structures or oil and gas wells on the properties.

The acquired land would be managed as part of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument according to the goals and objectives outlined in the monument resource management plan.

Additionally, grazing associated with this parcel will be incorporated into and managed as a part of the existing Yellow Jacket Canyon grazing allotment.

The current non-motorized livestock trail would be managed as a part of the grazing allotment. The proposed acquisition is planned for late spring.

According to the BLM, the purpose of the inholding purchase is to better manage cultural and natural resources of the monument on a landscape scale.

“Acquisition of the private lands by the United States would consolidate public lands, and create a more contiguous management landscape,” states proposal documents.

Under management of the BLM, the cultural resources located on the private property would receive protection under Federal historic preservation laws. The inclusion of these cultural resources in the monument would ensure long-term preservation of additional components of the prehistoric landscape of this region.

An additional benefit of obtaining this parcel is the acquisition of a portion of Yellow Jacket Creek and the associated riparian zone. Yellow Jacket Creek is one of two perennial streams running through the Monument and is home to endangered and sensitive fish.

In response to county commissioners interest in federal land being sold to private owners, Clementson said she recognizes the county’s concern about losing private lands, and that the BLM is open to working with the county on potentially selling isolated parcels of BLM land to the private sector.

The county created a map in 2012 that identified small parcels of BLM land scattered throughout that county that are surrounded by private land, have no public access and are potential candidates to add to the private sector.

The BLM has not sold any land to the private sector since the map was created, Clementson said. There has been a lack of funding to pursue land disposal, but that funding was reauthorized in 2018, and is again available.

The BLM will work with the county and “try to get some disposals going in the future,” Clementson said.

Since the monument was created by President Bill Clinton in 2000, it has grown by 11,000 acres through the purchase of private land.

For further information or assistance accessing documents through the website, you may contact realty specialist Harrison Griffin at (970) 882-1130. Mailed scoping comments must be postmarked by the deadline and mailed to BLM Tres Rios Field Office, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument; Attn: Austin Private Property Acquisition Project; 29211 Colorado Highway 184; Dolores, CO 81323.